ADJUSTING to college life is already a challenge in itself, and Jestin Samson, a Filipino freshman at California State Fullerton University, talks about the additional difficulties he encounters as a visually impaired person. He has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, visual malformations that prevent his eyes from operating normally. Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla.

This is the last in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first, second, third and fourth videos.

JESTIN SAMSON shows INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla the Disabled Student Services room at California State Fullerton University
and the equipment he uses to help him study and surf the Web. Samson, a Filipino freshman at CSFU, has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma.

This is the fourth in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first, second and third videos.

VISUALLY impaired Jestin Samson, a Filipino freshman at California State Fullerton University who has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, explains how he uses the Braillenote Empower device to study and write his papers.

Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla at the CSFU campus.

This is the third in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first and second videos.

JESTIN SAMSON, a Filipino freshman at California State Fullerton University who has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, shows that his condition cannot stop him from having fun.

An avid gamer, he is shown here playing Dance Dance Revolution. Video taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla at the CSFU campus.

This is the second in a series of five videos that capture a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

Check out the first video.

A FILIPINO freshman at California State Fullerton University, Jestin Samson goes through the typical experiences of a college kid, only he might see things differently — literally.

He has been diagnosed with general aniridia and glaucoma, visual malformations that prevent his eyes from operating normally. Here he explains his condition over lunch at the school’s food court to INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla.

This is the first in a series of five videos capturing a day in the college life of this Filipino student.

By Volt Contreras
Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — Before Oscar Franklin Tan drew raves for his commencement address at the elite Harvard Law School the other day, this young Filipino lawyer had his share of silent, awkward moments when basic things like meals became ”an issue.”

In a candid, light-hearted exchange with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Tan shared how campus life could be tough even for excelling foreign students like him in one of the world’s premier institutions.

He managed to stretch his limited food budget, for example, by improvising his menu and even collecting ”leftovers” at school functions.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

By Volt Contreras
Inquirer

THIS year’s elite, multiracial class of Harvard law graduates may have found their best speaker in a young Filipino lawyer of Chinese descent, one obviously honed for the global stage but who hopes to pay back “the nameless farmers and fishermen” who partly paid for his studies.

Oscar Franklin Tan, 27, earned the rare honor of delivering the commencement address in behalf of some 700 American and foreign graduates of the Harvard Law School.

Adel Tamano, spokesperson of the Genuine Opposition ticket in the recent senatorial elections, served as commencement speaker at Harvard Law in 2005.

[Read the rest of this entry »]